F1: Smoother Track Should Help McLaren, Says Button

Formula 1

F1: Smoother Track Should Help McLaren, Says Button

Jenson Button isn't discouraged after a rough outing in Australia...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 21, 2013 Sepang (MAS)

Jenson Button is confident that McLaren can turn things around. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jenson Button expects McLaren to have a better weekend in Malaysia than in Australia, thanks to the smoother nature of the circuit.

The team’s big problem last weekend was its inability to run the car too low, due to the bumpiness of the Albert Park track, which in turn compromised the aerodynamics.

“I think we’re a little bit lucky in terms of the way this circuit is in bumpiness,” said Button on Thursday. “It’s a lot smoother than the last race, which should help us quite a bit. As you probably noticed, the car was bouncing around quite a bit at the last race, which doesn’t help the setup. You have to do certain things to make sure it’s not hitting the ground so hard.

“So it wasn’t an optimum setup. Hopefully here, where it is a lot less bumpy, especially in low-speed corners, it should really help us to put the car where the car should work. We won’t be fighting at the front, but at least we can get the best out of the car that we have.

“Things will be different here with the different track temperatures, and type of circuit, and the bumpiness. We have a couple of little things here, as well, in terms of aero which should help us; not just downforce but in terms of changing the way the car works, hopefully. I can’t say much more than that.”

Longer term, Button remains confident that the team can turn things around.

“I think if I was in a smaller team in our position, I’d be worried, but because it’s McLaren, I know that we can develop the car and find a car that really works for us," the former champion said. "We’re not in a great position, but I know that we can improve it, and that’s the great thing.”

Meanwhile, Button conceded that he would like wet weather this weekend, a wish which is more than likely to be fulfilled.

“I would rather it was wet. Inters were very good for us at the last race, P4 in Q2," he said. "In a way it hurt us in the race because we got excited about Q3 and went for a better position than P10, which we shouldn’t have done. But when things are going a bit better, you think you can achieve more, and that wasn’t the case. P10 was where we were.

“I would rather it was mixed conditions; I think we’d have more of a chance to score points. When you have a quick car, you want it to be dry every day, no wind, calm, but when you don’t have such a quick car, you want everything thrown at the field, so you have an opportunity.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 28th season as a racing journalist in 2012. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.